Narendra's question had nothing to do with my blog or me. Obviously, it's the first one I will answer.

1. Is Steven Spielberg really greater than Ram Gopal Verma?

No. Ram Gopal Varma is definitely greater than Steven Spielberg. Any director who has the balls to take a classic film and its biggest star and turn them into a nightmarish mockery, gets my vote any day. Steven Spielberg cannot look beyond the Holocaust and a few stray dinosaurs for inspiration. He should meet Ramu, he really should.

2. Moving on to Himanshu's question - Just wanted to ask you your real name and what does it take to befriend you and address you by the same. :)

It is, believe it or not, The Cloudcutter. I've had it changed legally. You've already befriended me, and you do address by my name! See, how easy that was. And here I was stressing over nothing.

3. Pat - I wonder if you have written a book?

No I haven't written a book, yet. But thanks for that ego-boost :-)

4. Guyana Gyal - I don't know if you write for a newspaper, a magazine or would you consider writing a film script? For radio? TV? Or is it difficult to get into that field in India too? What great Indian writers do you admire?
And I gather, based on older posts, that you were going through a rough spot. Are you feeling better now?

I used to write for newspapers, magazines and websites. I did that for years. Now, I mostly write for myself and am hoping to have a book out sometime in the near future. I would love to attempt a film script but not TV or radio. It's not very difficult to get into in India, but the TV and radio scene is pretty sad. They're fine commercially, but do not appeal to my creative sensibilities. Films, on the other hand are far more promising. There's room for a whole lot more now, apart from the masala blood and gore films of the past. In fact, I'm fascinated with film making and would love to study it.

The Indian writers I admire (unfortunately, my reading is restricted to Indians writing in English) are Dom Moraes, Busybee (Behram Contractor) who was actually a newspaperman, R.K. Narayan, Ruskin Bond and Balraj Khanna. I also love the works of Sadaat Hasan Manto, a Pakistani writer who started his life in India and later moved across the border after the Partition.

And yes, thank you for asking, I'm feeling a lot better. One day at a time.

5. Mist asked - You went through a rough patch not too long ago. Just wanted to know how you dealt with it.

Since you say your break-up was self-inflicted, then maybe my ex would be the right person to answer your question :-)
OK seriously, I am still dealing with it. I wish I could tell you about a definite plan to help you get over it, I wish someone had shared the same with me. The truth is this - All the cliches you ever heard about the failure of a relationship are absolutely true. And you learn this the hard way.

You will be shocked at first, then in denial, then anger and so on. Those 7 or 5 steps of the grieving process? They're all true. What does change however, is the order that you might go through them in. It's different for everyone. I did it all wrong! I tried to move on in the beginning without admitting my feelings. I just wanted to be strong and not crumble. But it caught up with me later.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm still coping. Every single day, and every single hour of the day is a reminder to the pain that I'm trying to put behind me. I keep thinking that there will be light at the end of the tunnel and when I get through to the other side, it will all make sense.

I'm not sure what caused your break-up, sometimes I'm not sure what caused mine. It's just that you're living your life a certain way, thinking it's going to follow a certain course. Then one day, everything changes. It's like meeting with an accident. Once you begin the healing process, the best thing is to just pick up the pieces and move on. Cut your losses where you can and just move on.

6. Saltwater Blues asked - What is the one thing you wish for most when going to bed every night that you hope the day that follows will bring you?

For the courage to take that first leap. To be able to jump in the face of fear and be what I really want to be. And like Henry David Thoreau said -
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.

7. The Knife wants to know - Do you find any difference in passion and commitment while writing your blog versus the time when you wrote professionally?

Yes and no. The passion is still the same because I love writing, always have. The difference is that now I only write about things that I am passionate about. Writing professionally sometimes doesn't allow you that pleasure. There were times I had to write about a lot of boring stuff and not to forget, boring people! Having said that, I must say that some of my best articles are still the ones I've written professionally. The blog is far more casual and personal.

As far as commitment is concerned, I think that is still the same although on slightly different levels. In the past, I always managed to meet my deadlines because writing professionally does make one a bit more disciplined.
However, the great thing about blogging or writing for oneself is that you enjoy it so much that you don't really need deadlines or discipline. It just comes so naturally.